Workplace productivity may go up and down, but a new study shows that employee efficiency is not significantly impacted by social media usage.
That’s the news from a post via the Birmingham News. Roy Williams reports:
Maybe companies need to stop blaming Facebook and Twitter for reduced workplace productivity. TrackVia, a technology consulting firm, found that computer glitches and watercooler chit-chat are the biggest causes of distraction in the office.
In a nationwide survey conducted by the firm, 14 percent of workers cited chatting with co-workers as their biggest waste of time in the workplace, followed by dealing with computer software problems (11 percent). Less than 5 percent of respondents cited social media as their biggest time waster.
Social Media Tools
However, it’s easy to dismiss this study. After all, this is a self-reported survey. If you read the fine print in their infographic, it states:
..in total, 300 surveys were completed by non-IT and non C-level employees who use computers and software as part of their daily job.
So what does that mean? Does social media impact work output or not?
In reality, the TrackVia analysis indicates something much more profound: that most employees believe that other parts of work are a waste of time, not social media. The biggest loss of productivity according to survey respondents was water cooler chatter with other employees.
There is often a major difference between what individuals perceive as unproductive and what is actually unproductive. But companies that want to increase overall productivity have to start by merging perceptions and reality. And if people believe that interruptions from other coworkers are the #1 issue, then the culture needs to change to allow those annoyances to become less common.
By focusing on culture and workflow, organizations can measure their output based on what individuals believe to be important. Simply banning social media, adding or removing meetings, or moving the water cooler may have the opposite effect. It may tell people that their productivity is being monitored, but no one is asking them what they want.
Really? As a university student I am constantly at battles doing teamwork with teams wherein every individual is constantly distracted from whatever we are doing so that they can check or read something pointless on facebook. I would definitely say it’s an epidemic if my experience is anything to go by.
Thanks for your comment, J!
You’re right that your team members are distracted by social media. But that’s mostly because they are easily distracted, not because of the social networks themselves.
Ask them to shut off their devices and pay attention. Tell them they will be amazed how much gets done when people are actually focused on the task at hand.